The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1887-06-24
BIG GEMS IN ABUNDANCE.
bcryls. Garnets and Jasper by the Block.
Other Gems by the Pound.

other Gems by the Pound.
1t would surprise some people who
treasure little chips of sparkling stones in
rings or pins to learn how common some
of those same stones may be--and this
without reference to tho bogus jewels of
the shops. The writer has bit of aqua
marine cut from single crystal that
weighed four and one-half ounces, and
containing material enough for dozens of
gems, but even this crystal was of small
consequence as compared with ono now
in possession OK the emperor of Brazil,
for that weighs eighteen pounds, and is
of the size and nearly the shape Of "A calf's
head. New England. especially the
states of Maine and New Hampshire,
abounds in aquamarincs or bcryls, and
the biggest find was ut Grafton, N. H.,
where crystal weighing 5000 pounds
was taken out. This, however, was
nearly Opaque, and was consequently use
less for jewelry purposes. Graham 81 Co.
are cutting up garnet recently found in
North Carolina that weighed four pounds
seven and half ounces, and another
firm Of lapidaries has "a garnet of nearly
the same weight found in gneissoid ledge
in the neighborhood of West Seventeen
or Eightieth street, New York, although
this latter piece is too cloudy aud ttD
heavily ilawed to cut.
A Scotchman will show you the cairn-
CORN or smoky quartz in the hilt of his
dirk or pin of his plaid and brag of it il
it turns the scales mt an ounce. What
would he think of the 200 pound crystal
and of tho punches of crystals that aggre-
gate tons in weight, found near the lief
engletscher and brought down to the
Berne museum? Malachite was formerly
used for jewelry to considerable extent,
for the large quarries Of it were. until
lately, unknown. 1t is recorded of a
young fop who visited one of the Roths-
childs that he was SO proud of his mala-
chite sleeve buttons that he insisted upon
exhibiting them to his host. Rothschild
looked at them and said: Eyes, it is
pretty stone. have always liked it.
have q mantelpiece made Of it i'll the
next room." AS to the once precious
jasper, porphyry, and chalcedony one has
only to visit tho Paris Grand Opera to
find them used as architectural material.
The bloodstone, or heliotrope. is green
jasper, flccked with red. that is oftrn
used in rims. yet it il discovered in large
blocks in some PARTS of the world. The
royal collection in Parii contains u heal
of Christ made of this stone, where the
red spots are brought into the artistic
scheme by representing Llood from the
crown of thorns.
Onyx is abundant in the west and else
where, and the Mantuan vase at Bruins
wick, made Of this material. is seven
inches high by two and onc-half inches
broad. Nero had two cups Of rock
crystal or quartz, one OF which cost him
$4,000, and that, with characteristic
disregard of expense, he dashed to pieces
when informed that the people were in
revolt against him. Topazes are beauti-
full stones and not very expensive. They
ought not to be when Jumps of them
eighty pounds in weight can he lifted out
of the earth, as was done in Broddho,
Sweden. In spite Ct the comparative
abundance of certain gems, however, the
glassmaker flourishcs, and sometimes Inc
comes so near to reality that the
elect are deceived, while real stones often
simulate each other and can only be de-
terrnined by tests in cutting. The wife
of dealer in gems has worn beautiful
.'steel' topaz for twenty years III the
belief that it is IL diamond, and her hus.
band has never deemed it necessary tc
undeceive her. =.
Fraudulent gems, or "doublets," are
sometimes faced with thin slice of tho
stone they initiate that is made to adj
here by means of transparent cement, for
this facing of stone will wear much Ion
| ger than glass the latter becoming
scratched and dinmed even by exposure
| to the dust of our streets. Glass 81
"paste" gems however. are usually ;
| little off color. The glass amethyst, fol-
example, has II smoky quality different
from the royal purple of this stone: tn,
| glass garnet has not the deep and fiery
| crimson that flashes like Il coal of fir
| from the facet of % true garnet; tn,
emerald of glass is colder in color thar
the native crystal and has not its bright
ness. Deceit is no. only to be detected il
| the color, but by tests with files ant
acids, by dropping into water. by hea
and electricity. 1t is said that the quick
est way to judge the veracity Of dia
mond is TO drop it into water. IL it con
tinues to sparkle it is real; il it become
dead and CLASSY it is an imitation. Al
bogus diamonds sold under the names o
| Alaska diamonds, California diamonds
Rocky mountain diamonds, Rhine stone
md the like are made of the best film
| glass, and are cut with the same skill an,
fare rs actual stones.--B Brooklyn Eagle
| -----
| \ Rule Worth Observing.